Dodgers: Monday pregame notes

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TEMPE, Ariz. -- Manny Ramirez will return to game action today when the Dodgers face the Angels at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Ramirez, who was sidelined for a week, will be the Dodgers’ designated hitter.

Rafael Furcal, Orlando Hudson and Casey Blake, who played for the second day in a row on Sunday, aren’t making the trip to Tempe.

A major-league scout I ran into in the press box shared some thoughts on the Dodgers’ pitching, in particular relievers Hong-Chih Kuo and Cory Wade, who pitched on Sunday.

Kuo pitched the eighth inning against the Texas Rangers and gave up a home run to Chris Davis.

But, the scout said, ‘I thought he looked good. He was 91 to 96, good breaking ball. ‘

The scout said he thought the injury-prone left-hander should be the Dodgers’ closer instead of Jonathan Broxton.

‘It’s not who’s a better pitcher,’ he said. ‘You can conserve a closer better than you can conserve an eighth-inning guy. You never waste a ninth-inning guy.’

The scout noted that whereas Kuo has a long history of elbow problems, Broxton is used to handling a setup man’s workload.

The same scout had a less glowing report on Cory Wade, who gave up three runs and three hits in an inning.

‘I’d be concerned about Cory Wade,’ he said.

The scout said Wade pitched mostly at 86-87 mph and that ‘his command was pretty bad.’

‘When you see the velo down and his command like that, it concerns you,’ he said, referring to Wade’s shoulder problems.

Here’s the Dodgers’ lineup:

Matt Kemp CF
Andre Ethier RF
Manny Ramirez DH
James Loney 1B
Russell Martin C
Mark Loretta 3B
Blake DeWitt 2B
Xavier Paul LF
Chin-lung Hu SS
Chad Billingsley RHP

-- Dylan Hernandez